New Troubles
by Tonifranz
Summary: Petunia, with Giggles help, has found a lucrative way to use her OCD. Shifty and Lifty's decided to take advantage of the two girls' financial success to feather their own nests. Will their plan succeed, or will the other HTF characters stop them?
1. The Beginning

**Chapter 1**

**The Beginning**

It was a sweet day at Happy Tree Town. Too sweet…

Still it was noon, and only two people died that day. Pop accidentally pushed Cub off a cliff while strolling, and Russell drowned while diving for oysters when his foot got stuck in some rocks and an angry fish bit the pipe of his scooba gear.

Which, in a town used to death, was a good omen for the day. Still, anything can happen.

Flippy, Toothy, and Cuddles were in a Toothy's house, playing cards. Flippy has a big pile of cash on his corner, Cuddles also has a bit of cash, while Toothy is nervous, having lost everything in the last hour or so. Yet he kept playing, for the three friends usually returned their winnings after each game. It was only for fun that they played poker.

Cuddles was smiling as he placed his cards on the table. "Read 'em and weep, boys!" he shouted as he began to collect the cash and chips.

Flippy smiled as he placed his cards on the table. Cuddles smile suddenly vanished. But before Flippy could do anything, Toothy shouted and showed his straight flush, and the green bear and the yellow cuddly rabbit just stared at it with surprised expressions. It was the first time that he won a poker game with his friends for a long time.

"You lucky dog!" Cuddles exclaimed, slapping Toothy in back. "I knew your luck was reserved for last!"

"Speaking of being lucky," Flippy said as they cleaned the table, "what's lucky is that I haven't flipped and killed anyone for the past four days."

"On purpose," Toothy corrected as he remembered how he was accidentally run over by Flippy's jeep the day before.

"But that happens every time!" Cuddles exclaimed. "Yeah, what gives? You usually flip out over something as minor as a woodpecker in the woods. But in the past week or so, you watched a war movie, heard sounds that looks like dive bombers, heck, you even saw blood when you ran over Toothy yesterday! Not that I want you flip and all!"

"Well, I simply sought help," the veteran replied. "I went to Lumpy who was a psychiatrist at that time. Then I confronted the evil me in a mental battle and won. These days, I still flip out but only at the most serious provocations. No more flipping out over the backfire of a car, or popping of balloons. Nope. Heck, not even dead people can flip me out!"

"But what can flip you? So that we can avoid it?" Toothy asked.

"I don't know. I don't know," Flippy suddenly said, his face changing to sad and grim. "It's all so random. I mean, sure, I can control most of these things. But not all. God, yesterday, I nearly flipped out when I saw your carcass under my jeep. My eyes become yellow and I nearly lost it. But I was able, at the last minute, to control it. Oh God I'm so sorry!"

Cuddles and Toothy were a bit taken by his sudden mood change. "We know it's not you. But at least you can control it," Toothy offered. "Right?"

"Yeah, but I hope that I don't lose it next time. I can control him better than before," the bear explained.

"Well, the day is half over, and we've wasted enough time indoors. Let's get out and have some fun!" Cuddles said.

Flippy was glad for the change in topic. "What do you suggest?"

"Let's climb the mountain!" Cuddles suggested. "And let's invite the others!"

"I know! Giggles, Flaky, Petunia, Lumpy, and Mime," Toothy suggested.

"Why not?" Flippy agreed. "Let's get lunch at the café then let's go!"

"Right!" Cuddles agreed, suddenly remembering his hunger.

"I'll just get my gear, you know, my mountain climbing gear," the purple beaver said, "you can't be too careful."

The bear and the rabbit nodded as the buck toothed beaver ran towards the closet in his room. The gear is located on the top shelf. Hanging from the top shelves are sharp hooks used to hang coats.

He took a ladder to get the gear. At the top, however, he slipped, and he grabbed something to stabilize himself. What he grabbed, however, was a bowling ball, and it rolled off the shelf. Toothy screamed as he fell and saw his right eye falling towards one of the closet hooks.

Flippy and Cuddles were talking when they heard a loud scream from Toothy's room. They quickly saw Toothy hanging by the closet, the hook hanging his body by the eye socket. His right eye was already gone.

Cuddles and Flippy rushed to help, but before they can do anything, Toothy flailed his arm and caught the hanging strap of a bag carrying heavy mountain climbing equipment. It fell and caught itself in Toothy's shoulders. The weight was too much, and the hook tore off the beaver's skull and brain as his corpse fell towards the floor.

Flippy and Cuddles reached Toothy but were too late. He was dead. Cuddles yellow fur was drenched in blood and Flippy's eyes began to twitch, as he remembered a dead comrade from the war.

* * *

Giggles was waiting in Petunia's house waiting for her friend to finish cleaning.

"Are you done yet?" asked Giggles. The house was literally sparkling as Petunia put on the finishing touches of her masterpiece.

"Not yet!" said the blue skunk as she scrubbed and polished the table. The great thing, Giggles noted, about having OCD is that she can clean a house in thirty minutes, which would have taken normal people five hours to clean. Petunia thus has much free time, and much cash, as she turned her OCD to good use.

"Aren't you overdoing it a little," Giggles asked, but more in jest, as she was used to her friends quirks.

"Nope. Cleanliness is next to godliness, as they say," Petunia answered, much satisfied at the appearance at her house. "One germ could kill you. Besides, you can't argue about the money it's bringing."

Giggles couldn't agree more. At first, Petunia's obsession for cleanliness was a liability, but the blue skunk quickly turned it into a gold mine. She offered her services to clean each and every one of the Happy Tree Friends' house once a week, with the exception of Disco Bear, for a fee of course. And she did it so well, so fast, so competently, that she was able to increase her weekly fees. She died several times, by accident, in the line of duty, some in the most gruesome way possible, yet so eagerly was her services sought that everyone simply signed a contract by which they would pay her double if she died painlessly, and triple if it happens that her death was painful and gruesome, while she was cleaning their house. In fact, much of her revenue was gained while cleaning the houses of Lumpy, Splendid, Flippy, Mole, and Nutty's house, as she mostly likely would die cleaning those friends' houses.

She recruited and made Giggles a partner, dividing profits two thirds for Petunia and one third for Giggles, as Petunia did most of the work, while Giggles simply accompanied her friend, talked to her, helped when needed, and handled the money.

In fact, it made her quite well-off, and among the tree friends, only Disco Bear (from his Disco recording sales), Flippy (from his pension, his war loot, and his investments), Russell (from his pirate treasure and fishing), Lumpy (from his amusement park and other odd jobs) and Sniffles (from his inventions) had more money than Petunia and Giggles.

They already cleaned Pop, Cuddles, Nutty, Splendid, Lumpy and Splendid's house for the week, surprisingly without death or injuries. Today was a day off, a chance to relax and to enjoy the world.

"So after the bank, where should we go?" asked Petunia.

"I'm expecting Cuddles would call at my house this afternoon so we can hang out. He's with Flippy and Toothy at Toothy's right now," Giggles informed. "I wonder where he'll take us?"

"Wherever it is, I hope it's safe," Petunia shuddered, remembering all the disasters that resulted in death on their hang-outs. Yet she was not Flaky, and she was more than willing to risk her life for some fun. "I still remember that roller coaster in Lumpy's Park and the trip to the mountains. I hope they don't bring Flippy!"

"Why not?" Giggles asked. "He's a nice guy."

"Who can flip!" Petunia replied, remembering too many times how she died at the hands of the green bear.

"Yeah, but still—"

"You're right. I am too hard on that poor bear. Well, as long as he remains himself he's okay," Petunia said as she prepared to shower. "At least he's not Disco Bear!"

Giggles shrugged at Petunia. She already showered when she woke up, but she was used to her friend's quirks.

Then she heard the doorbell.

"Who could it be?" the pink chipmunk wondered.

* * *

Unfortunately, news of Petunia and Giggles new found wealth spread, and in particular, attracted Shifty and Lifty. The two kleptomaniac brothers looked at the income the two girls were making, and were determined to share, or rather, take it. Two previous attempts by night had ended in disaster, killing them both twice when they tried to sneak in. And they finally got to the safe and cash box, they were disappointed to find it empty. It was not for nothing that Petunia learned to put all her cash in the bank.

This time, they became more brazen. They simply, in broad daylight, went over, and pressed the doorbell.

They were surprised that it was Giggles who answered.

Giggles was surprised, but before she could scream, Shifty grabbed her and covered her mouth with his paw, silencing her scream. Lifty entered with ropes, tape and a knife, snickering.

Petunia finished showering and quickly dressed. She looked at the mirror and approved. The flower on her head and the air freshener on her chest were put on, and she hummed at herself. She opened the door of her room and saw Giggles in the living room, hands bound behind her with rope, feet bound, her mouth stuffed with something and sealed with duct tape.

Before she could react, she was grabbed from behind. Shifty clamped her mouth with his hand as he whispered, "Do as I say or the pink girl gets it!"

Petunia nodded fearfully as she was released.

"What do you want! Take everything! Just don't hurt us!" Petunia whimpered.

Lifty looked at Shifty, who nodded. Lifty spoke. "Go get the safe, and empty your money into this bag. Don't do anything funny or Giggles will get it!"

Petunia nodded as she went back into her room accompanied by Lifty. She took the small safe from under her bed, and carried it to the living room. Under the gaze of the raccoon brothers, she opened it. She cursed the bank for being closed early the day before and having to wait until this day to deposit it.

Lifty and Shifty were disappointed with the small amount of cash. Only about $70. Shifty spotted a small book in the safe. He took it, and looked at its contents and his eyes got big.

"Holy cow! It's her bankbook and look at this! Wow!" Shifty exclaimed as Lifty stared in wonder at the six figure amounts in the bankbook.

Shifty looked at Petunia, "If you don't want her to get hers," pointing to Giggles, "do as I say. Go to the bank with this, and withdraw all your money. Lifty will accompany you to make sure you do it. And if you try anything else, Giggles is going to suffer! We both have cellphones so if you try anything, I'll know. We'll let both of you go when we get the money."

Petunia was frozen with fear as Shifty and Lifty fashioned a noose from the rope they had, and slung it over a hook in the ceiling. They made Giggles stand in a stool, and fastened the noose around her neck. Giggles was now completely in tears.

"She'll be safe as long as you do as you're told," Lifty told Petunia. Lifty grabbed the bankbook and shuffled Petunia out towards the bank.

Shifty snickered as he watched his brother disappear, and began to ransack the house.

* * *

Flaky was driving her car from the grocery store. Besides her was Handy who promised to fix a leaked pipe in her kitchen that day. Flaky chanced upon the amputee carpenter in the store. She mentioned about the leaky pipe and Handy offered his help. She was grateful.

Flaky was deep in thought. As usual, her thoughts were about Flippy. She sighed contentedly, as she again in her mind listed the preparation for a second party. The first one for Flippy's birthday gave her confidence. Sure, it ended in disaster, but it gave her confidence that she could host another party. First, she now knows that she is allergic to peanuts. She therefore banned all peanuts from the upcoming party. Second, she decided against all balloons. Not only would it be probable that she would pop it by accident, but it might again trigger Flippy's evil side. She was less apprehensive about him flipping out again since after his sessions with the psychiatrist Lumpy awhile back, he was able to control his flip-outs much better than before. She had enlisted the help of Giggles, Cuddles, Petunia, Handy and Sniffles to help prepare the party. Like the last one, it will be a surprise for Flippy.

"Look out!" Handy shouted, as she suddenly was snapped out of her musings when she suddenly saw Mime in a unicycle heading straight for her. Mime tried to swerve but the momentum of his vehicle was too much. Flaky stepped on the breaks, and the car screeched to a halt, but it was too late. Mime was hit just before the vehicle stopped, and was thrown toward a nearby tree. Upon impact, his back broke and was torn in half.

"Mime!" Flaky shouted as she and Handy left the car to check on Mime.

"It's not your fault," Handy comforted as they stared at his dead body. "Mime suddenly appeared right before us, and he'll be back! Good as new!"

Flaky knew Handy was right, but before she could say anything, she heard a shriek. She and Handy looked and saw Petunia with …Lifty?

"What happened?" the blue skunk asked.

Flaky and Handy were even more shocked by Petunia's appearance than by Mime's death. Death occurred on a daily basis and they were used to it. Petunia, however, was shivering and has terror in her voice as she asked her question. It was obvious from her eyes had she had cried recently, and the look on her eyes was one of dread and fear. And it was obvious that the fear was not from seeing Mime.

"I hit Mime with my car," Flaky replied. "But what happened to you?"

"And why are you going out with Lifty of all people?" Handy asked.

"Nothing happened, right Petunia?" Lifty snickered, looking a Petunia with a menaced look, his hand holding his cellphone.

Petunia took the hint. "Yes, uh, nothing. We're just on a… date," Petunia almost gagged as she said the word, "yeah, that's it."

"Well, let's get along. We don't want anyone else with us, right?" Lifty asked.

"N-n-n-no," Petunia fearfully said, and they walked away from Flaky and Handy.

The porcupine and the carpenter were by now too shocked by the event to say anything as Petunia and Lifty left.

"What's happening?" Flaky in her timid voice asked when they were far.

"I don't know," Handy replied.

"I don't believe Petunia would ever go with Lifty, and she's crying," Flaky explained, "and afraid."

"How do you know?" asked Handy.

"That's how I sound when I'm really scared," Flaky replied.

"I don't like the looks of this. I think I better follow them and see what's up," Handy replied. "I think you better contact the others just in case this turns out bad. It might be that they really are on a date, but my gut feeling tells me it's much much deeper than that. I hope I'm wrong, but Petunia is in trouble."

Flaky nodded as she rushed to her car. She saw Handy cautiously following Lifty and Petunia. She drove in the opposite direction. She tried calling but she found to her consternation that her cellphone was dead.

Who to go to? Lumpy? No, it would only get worse. Besides, he was sheriff during that time and it's no good to call on a mere suspicion. The Mole? No, no, no, no. Maybe Flippy would help? She nodded and decided to call the green bear. Then she remembered he told her the day before that he would be spending the morning with Cuddles at Toothy's place. Perfect! She can call Flippy, and Cuddles, and Toothy to help.

She rushed to Toothy's, and as she did, she hit the Mole and Nutty, killing them both. Mole simply crossed the street and did not see the rushing vehicle coming towards him, while Nutty was in another of his sugar induced hallucinations and mistook the car for a giant lollipop.

"Sorry," she shouted while laughing nervously, "but it's an emergency."

She finally stopped at Toothy's house. She knocked at the door, but there was no answer. The door was not locked. "Toothy! Flippy! Cuddles," she shouted as she let herself in. She was afraid, nervous, but she was concerned for Petunia.

**Note: **I got most of the ideas for this chapter from HTF episodes. For example, Toothy's death was taken from _Autopsy Turvy/Double Whammy part 2_ where he was almost impaled by a closet hook. The part where Shifty and Lifty tied up Giggles was taken from _Gems the Breaks._ Of course, the party of Flaky was from _Party Animal_. Handy and Flaky driving together was taken from _Easy Comb Easy Go_.

This story happens after _Double Whammy 2._


	2. Rising Tension

**Chapter 2**

**Rising Tension  
**

Sniffles sat at the Bank Teller, staring at a document detailing the debits and credits of the transactions of the previous day. He made a satisfied sigh as he balanced, double-ruled, and finished it, looking it with satisfaction before tucking it away in the drawer of his table.

Sniffles was the most intelligent of the Tree Friends, and as such, he was given the job of manager of the bank. It was not the most exciting of jobs for the anteater, but he plunged joyfully into the world of finance. His mathematical talent, his memorization skills, and his knowledge of logic immediately enabled him to master accounting. Still, it was only a job, and his real joy is inventing and doing scientific experiments during his free time. However, the world of banking at least is intellectually challenging, and the anteater could exercise his mental muscles while working. Another bonus is that he didn't die in the bank as often as he did at his other jobs, as it was relatively safe.

The bank teller called in sick that day, so Sniffles, having nothing to do at his office, elected to do the teller's job. It was a pleasant and easy job, since there are only a few customers on a typical day at Happy Tree Town.

The door to the bank opened, and the bespectacled anteater by habit greeted, "Good Morning Ma'am, to Happy Tree Bank! How may I help you?" Petunia entered, but what surprised Sniffles was her companion, Lifty, a raccoon, who with his brother, attempted to rob the bank a few weeks ago. What is Petunia doing with Lifty in this bank? Sniffles wondered.

It was not unusual for Sniffles to see Petunia at the bank. On the contrary, ever since she started her cleaning service, she would always deposit her earnings at the bank just before closing. Not only would it be safer, it would also earn interest, Sniffles advised.

No, what was disconcerting was Petunia's attitude. She was always happy and cheerful, chirpy and energetic, yet she was sullen, sad, and fearful. "Hi Sniffles," she greeted. Even her voice was fearful, shaken and creaky. Lifty was besides her, snickering.

"Not that it's my business, but is anything wrong with you?" asked Sniffles. "You look like, well, you don't look well at all."

Petunia looked at Lifty, and stated, "No, nothing's wrong. Just watched a sad soap on TV and caught a cold."

Now Sniffles knew she was lying, yet decided it was not his business. "So how may I help you?"

"I would like to make a withdrawal," she answered.

Sniffles nodded and gave her a withdrawal slip. Petunia filled it up, and gave it, along with her bankbook, to Sniffles.

Sniffles was shocked when he saw the amount. "Why it's your entire account! You're withdrawing all of your money?" Sniffles cried.

"Yes, I.. uh… want to buy something expensive," Petunia answered.

Sniffles was not convinced, yet he had to grant the request. "Okay. You'll just have to accompany me to the office, since this is a special kind of transaction."

Petunia nodded, and went with Sniffles. Lifty followed, but was stopped by Sniffles.

"Sorry sir, but unless you could establish your interest in Petunia's account," the anteater said, "Petunia would have to go alone. This is confidential."

"Look here," Lifty spat, "I'm sure Petunia here could establish my interest in her cash."

Ordinarily, Sniffles would have granted such a request, but he does not trust Lifty, so he would enforce the rules to the letter in this case. "Sir, are you married to her? Are you her close relative? Do you have a joint account with Petunia? Are you his legal guardian? Do you have a written contract? Do you have written proof notarized by a lawyer? Because if you don't, you have no right to inquire into her transactions!"

"I don't care. She won't leave my side. I'm coming with you!"

"Then she won't get a single cent. And sir, if you persist, I'll call the sheriff, and you'll be spending the night in a cell for disturbing the peace," Sniffles replied menacingly.

"It's okay, he's with me," Petunia tried to reason.

"I'm sorry, but rules are rules," Sniffles said sternly. "Either you come along with me without Lifty, or the bank would not honor the transaction."

Lifty had not expected the bank to be obdurate. He decided to let Petunia go alone rather than not get a single cent. "Okay, I'll let you go, but don't try anything, or you know what will happen," Lifty growled as went to a bench on the side of the wall to wait for them to finish.

Sniffles was now sure that something sinister was afoot. He is good friends with Petunia, and he vowed that he will get to the bottom of this.

"Right this way, Petunia," Sniffles said, as he led her not to his office, but to the basement below, which to Sniffles' reckoning, is soundproof.

"Thank you," Petunia replied.

"Now, you can tell me the truth," Sniffles said. "Yes, I know something is up. Don't worry, this room is soundproof. He won't hear a thing."

Petunia looked around, fearful, then suddenly, collapsed in tears, hugging the anteater, and burying her face in Sniffles shirt. "Oh it's terrible, Sniffles, terrible!"

"Calm down. You're safe now," said Sniffles. "He can't hurt you here."

"But they can hurt Giggles. Oh please don't tell anyone. I beg you. Please. If Lifty finds out, he'll tell Shifty and Giggles will get killed! I know she'll come back, but I don't want her to die if it can be avoided!"

Sniffles was surprised that Giggles was involved, but considering that they are partners in business and close friends, maybe he shouldn't be.

"What? How is Giggles involved in this?" asked Sniffles as he wrapped his arms around Petunia to try to calm her down.

Petunia looked at Sniffles face, and suddenly detached herself from Sniffles. "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to ruffle your shirt," she said as she sat on a nearby chair.

"It's okay. But what happened?" Sniffles demanded.

"Promise me you'll help? That you won't let Giggles die?" the blue skunk plead.

"I won't," the anteater replied.

And the skunk told him all that happened.

The anteater was silent as she finished, thinking of ways to solve Petunia's little problem.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Petunia. "I mean if Lifty finds out, he'll gonna call his brother and well, I don't know what will happen to Giggles."

The anteater stopped, looked at the blue skunk, and said, "Petunia, you have to trust me on this one, but we'll make Lifty think I've released the cash."

* * *

Lifty had fallen asleep in the bench waiting for Petunia. He suddenly was woken up by somebody shaking him. "Alright, I'm up!" Lifty said as he looked on Petunia. "What took you so long?"

"You know banks. So much paperwork and red tape. I've had to sign a million documents," Petunia replied as she showed him a large moneybag.

Lifty greedily grabbed it and eyed its contents. Yes, there were large, fresh, crisp hundred dollar bills on the top.

He got his cellphone and called Shifty. "Hey bro, I got it! It took awhile but the cash is ours!" Lifty triumphantly reported.

"Good. Bring the girl back. We'll count the money here. We might need another trip to the bank just in case she did not take it all," Shifty instructed.

"Right," Lifty said as he put the phone back into his pocket. He looked at Petunia. "Come on, let's go back."

Petunia looked at Sniffles at the counter, who nodded and smiled.

"Okay, just don't hurt Giggles or me," Petunia whispered.

With that, the raccoon and the skunk left the building.

* * *

Lumpy sat in his office, hot coffee on his left hand, his feet on the table. He was sheriff on that day, and it was an easy job. There are almost no crimes committed at Happy Tree Town, and although there was a high rate of gruesome deaths, almost none, except those committed by Flippy, were murder. They were almost all pure accidents, and a good number of them were caused by Lumpy himself. The only regular criminals on the town are Shifty and Lifty, and they usually get themselves killed in the process.

There is something about Lumpy which, despite his lack of common sense and his below average intelligence, compelled the authorities of Happy Tree Town to give him jobs which require authority over a lot of people. He was variously a minister, a scoutmaster, a bus driver, a school play director, a ringmaster, a heart surgeon, a newspaper editor, etc. He has enough intelligence to get by, to do the job competently, most of the time. His work is mediocre, average, yet at times, he approached his job in such a way that would lead to disaster and death to a lot of people. Yet no one could question his heart, even if he could be a bit selfish at times.

He has that easy authority over the ordinary Happy Tree Citizens that make most of them willing to follow Lumpy, even if they had previously suffered death because of an act of the blue moose. A big factor is his height. He towered over all of the inhabitants of the cursed little village. He can easily intimidate most by his sheer size, if he chose too. Thus, he could be a bit bossy in some of his jobs. Thus, most of the time, he can make those under him do what he wants them to do. Plus, he genuinely enjoyed being in charge, even if he might die in the process.

Lumpy was enjoying his cup of coffee when the phone suddenly rang. He put his coffee on the table and answered the phone. "Sheriff Lumpy," he greeted, "how may I help?"

"Lumpy—" Sniffles said.

"That's sheriff Lumpy to you, pal," Lumpy interrupted.

"Sorry, Lumpy, I mean Sheriff Lumpy, but I've got to report a robbery and kidnapping incident," the anteater said.

"Somebody robbed the bank again?" Lumpy asked.

"No. Shifty and Lifty kidnapped Petunia and Giggles to get their money!" Sniffles replied.

"Oh my God! You're in the bank right?" Lumpy asked.

"Yes," Sniffles answered.

"I'm on my way," Lumpy said as he rushed toward the car.

Ten minutes later, he was at Sniffles's office. He listened as the bank manager told the sheriff what Petunia told him and what he had observed. "That is serious," Lumpy said, with a serious face. "Anything else you might want to tell me?"

"Handy came in—"

"Wait a minute, we're talking about Petunia here, not Handy—"

"But Sheriff, he knows where those two are!"

"Okay, I'm listening."

"Handy had been following the pair ever since he met them at the road on their way to the bank. He talked to me shortly after I talked with Petunia, and he's following them right now," Sniffles informed.

"Aha! That's one lucky break! Where are they now?"

"Wait a minute, I'll call Handy," Sniffles replied as he got his cellphone. "Hello Handy? Where are they now? Still on their way? Okay. Thanks."

"What did he say?" asked Lumpy.

"Lifty's taking his sweet time going back to Petunia's house," Sniffles replied. "They're less than halfway there."

"Well, it's obvious what we have to do! Since we already established the identity of the suspect, and his whereabouts, the only thing we have to do is go there and arrest him on the spot!" the blue moose stated authoritatively.

"You can't do that! Lifty will know that Petunia squealed, and Giggles will be finished!" Sniffles begged. "We should just follow them, and wait for an opportunity to grab his phone. Then we can take him."

"That's a bad idea! It's better to simply go and run him out of town! However, Giggles is in danger. The best plan is simply to follow them, and wait for an opportunity to grab Lifty's phone so he can't call Shifty!" Lumpy blurted.

"But that's my—"

"No need to thank me for thinking out our plan," Lumpy replied. "We've got to save some lives!!" He ran to the car followed by Sniffles.

Sniffles shook his head. Maybe it was mistake to call Lumpy, Sniffles thought. Knowing him, they might all be accidentally killed before the day is out because of his clumsiness, bossiness, and carelessness.

* * *

Flippy struggled to control himself, but blacked out as he stared at Toothy's bloody corpse.

Evil Flippy quietly laughed, took out his bowie knife, and was about to pounce on Cuddles, who was still staring at Toothy, when they heard Flaky shout their names.

"Toothy! Flippy! Cuddles," they heard, and Flippy at once shook his head. He was frightened at the knife at his hand ready to carve Cuddles' back. He made a silent gasp, thanking that Flaky arrived just in time, and put the knife back to its sheath.

A scream rang across the house as Cuddles and Flippy looked at the door of Toothy's room. Flaky was screaming hysterically at the corpse of Toothy. Flippy immediately went and led her away from the room, followed by Cuddles.

"It was a bloody accident," Flippy explained. "He accidentally impaled himself on one of those closet hooks ."

"He'll be back tomorrow," Cuddles added. Cuddles and Flippy were used to death, and though sad, quickly put it out of their minds. Flaky however, still hasn't reconciled herself with the spectre of daily death.

Flaky sobbed at bit at the arms of Flippy. "I really wish that death comes less frequently," Flaky stated to no one in particular.

"So what brings you here?" Cuddles asked, changing the topic.

"Petunia is in trouble. I saw her with Lifty, and she looked so scared, so frightened!" Flaky explained. "She told me it was a date, but it's obvious that she was forced."

"How about Shifty," asked Cuddles.

"I didn't see him." Flaky answered.

Shifty and Lifty were the two critters in all of Happy Tree Town to whom the nice Flippy didn't warm up to. In fact, he downright disliked the duo after they attempted to strip his house clean one Christmas night. Heck, they might have succeeded if they weren't too greedy. Among all the kills of Evil Flippy, it was the gruesome deaths of the raccoon brothers that he was least sorry for. In fact, after that incident, the two thieves have a deathly fear of even the normal Flippy.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to make sure Lifty stops harassing Petunia," Cuddles said.

Flippy lifted an eyebrow in wonder. "And how do you propose to do that?"

"I'll simply find him and knock the teeth out of his snickering mouth," Cuddles said, showing his fists at the two.

The remark surprised Flippy and Flaky. Not that it would be impossible. Cuddles was bigger than Lifty after all. And Flippy would help Cuddles if he got in trouble. No, what was surprising was to him was his willingness to engage in physical violence with Lifty.

"As much as I would like to beat the snot out of that hatless moron," Flippy replied, "we should go to Petunia's house."

"Petunia's house?" Flaky asked.

"Yes. It's obvious that Shifty is the one doing the robbing and Lifty was just getting Petunia out of the way," Flippy replied. "We should first stop Shifty so that we wouldn't have to look for stolen items. And I don't think Lifty would hurt Petunia anyway."

"What about Lifty and Petunia?" asked Cuddles.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Lifty would return at the scene of the crime to make sure Shifty wouldn't cheat on him," replied Flippy.

"That settles it then. Let's go!" the cuddly bunny said. Both boys stood and went for the door, eager for the new adventure. Flaky just stood quiet and did not move.

Cuddles noticed this. "Come on Flaky!" he said. "We need an extra pair of hands! Besides, I know you wouldn't want to miss out on helping Petunia."

"Isn't what you're doing dangerous?" asked porcupine in her timid voice. "I don't think—"

"You don't have to go Flaky," Flippy answered. "We won't force you. But if you come with us, I promise that you'll be safe."

Flaky thought a bit. She was afraid that things might go wrong and they will all be killed. Cuddles was there always urging her to be more adventurous, braver, but a lot of the attempts ended in either or both of their deaths. Flippy is not the type to force someone to do something they don't want to, something she liked about him that she disliked about Cuddles. Yet, Flaky thought, most of the time Cuddles urged her, she went. And this time, Flippy was with her. She felt safe with the veteran besides her, and she just knew in her heart that he would not let anything happen to her. Besides, even if he flips, she just knew, even if it is not reasonable, that the evil Flippy would kill everyone but her.

"Um, I'd like to help," Flaky said, a bit uncertain and afraid, "I'll go with you."

"Perfect!" Cuddles said. "Let's go. We better take Flippy's jeep."

Flippy nodded as he took Flaky's hand and went to the vehicle.

**Note: **I got a couple of ideas from the episodes of _Happy_ _Tree_ _Friends_. Lumpy being sheriff I got from _Don't Yank My Chain_. Flaky's shout snapping Flippy out of his trance I got from _Double Whammy_.

Thanks to **deadliving** and **fridix95**_**. **_I really appreciate your reviews.


	3. Climax

Before I start, I want to apologize to Shifty Lifty fans that I made the raccoon brothers I made them the villains. I don't hate them. I actually like them and their one of my favorite characters. It's just that they're the easiest among the HTF characters to make villains, as they're already thieves, and have shown much greed. In fact, all their bad actions in this fic simply stemmed from too much greed. They're not bad persons at heart, but they sometimes are too greedy for their own good.

**Chapter 3**

**Climax**

Shifty grinned in satisfaction at his work. All of Petunia's possessions were already stacked on boxes ready to be carried to Petunia's car. He already had the skunk's car keys on his pocket. He was just waiting for his brother before they'll make their getaway. He stole everything but the kitchen sink, including the lightbulbs on the ceiling and the screws on the kitchen pipes. The only thing that is not stolen is the stool by which Giggles is standing on and a ceramic lamp on a table that Shifty intended to light the house with if the operation lasted into the night. He snickered. The stool will follow later. After all, he had no intention of killing Giggles. He's a thief, not a murderer.

He could only hope that this operation would go off without a hitch. He and his brother had already died countless times in the most gruesome fashion while doing previous jobs. Anyway, Shifty thought, death held no terrors for the brothers. On the contrary, ever since moving to Happy Tree Town, death is something that could ruin a day job and would give temporary pain, but nothing more. And there were times when they succeeded. The profits from the sale of stolen goods were more than enough to make it worth risking their lives on a daily basis.

Shifty nodded in self congratulation on a job well chosen. Sure, there were richer citizens that could be robbed, but this was the safest. Robbing the other tree friends is risky, as they could easily be beaten to a pulp once they were caught. There were already beaten up by Lumpy, Disco Bear, and the others. Heck, they were even murdered in cold blood by Flippy. God, they vowed they won't even look at Flippy's house after that experience. Petunia and Giggles were different. They could easily be overpowered. He remembered when they easily took over the lemonade business of the two girls and tied them behind the stand. If only Splendid did not interfere, then it would have been perfect. But now nothing could go wrong. He planned everything. Everything. And he has faith that his brother would not mess things up.

He looked at Giggles, still standing on the stool, carefully balancing herself with her hands tied behind her, with the rope around her neck. She looked at him with barely controlled sobbing. Her tears had dried, yet she still had terror in her eyes. Shifty was sympathetic.

"Don't worry. I don't think that skunk will do anything stupid," Shifty communicated as he walked around her. "You'll be free of that noose soon enough!"

Giggles only could look at the grinning raccoon. Oh how she wished this nightmare would end. She longed for the hug of her beloved Cuddles. Several times, she nearly fell from the stool and got hung, but she quickly balanced herself. Several times she thought of simply letting herself get killed and wake up the next day good as new, as she knew no one of her friends would suspect suicide, yet she drew back. No. Even as she died on a regular basis, no one of the Tree Friends in their right minds deliberately and intentionally killed themselves. Even Petunia when she peeled herself to death was already by that time out of her mind. Accidental suicide and homicide was very common, but intentional? No. She has a will to live, and there is nothing at this situation that would compel her to take her life.

She closed her eyes and try to think positive things. She thought about her friends, her mother, Cuddles, Petunia. She was deep in thought when a shout interrupted her daydream.

"Giggles!" a loud high pitched voice shouted. Giggles opened her eyes as Shifty turned. Shifty, before he could react, was punched to the face and fell on his back to the floor.

* * *

Lumpy and Sniffles were on a nondescript car quietly following Lifty and Petunia. Lumpy wanted to use the police car but Sniffles persuaded the Sheriff to use his car instead, as it would be less conspicuous to Lifty. Lumpy agreed, not before claiming the idea for himself and congratulation himself for the plan. Sniffles simply shook his head. And as Sheriff, to Sniffles' protest, Lumpy insisted on being on the driver's seat. He dismissed Sniffles' complaint with a contemptuous, "I'm the sheriff around here!"

Sniffles has a pair of binoculars spying on the two. He saw Handy a little bit behind Lifty and Petunia and he was quietly following them. Every time they would get too far, Lumpy started the engines and slowly drove a little closer, stopping when getting close to maintain a safe distance. He would wait, on Sniffles signal, for the couple to move further away, then he would slowly inch the car closer. In fact, Sniffles was surprised at Lumpy's competency in handling the car. He guessed his many jobs that require driving made him a better driver.

Both Lifty and Petunia were completely oblivious to the three people following them. As far as Lifty's concerned, everything was going according to plan. He has the money, he has Petunia scared and willing to follow his orders, and nobody else knew about their caper. The bag of money was slung across his back. Nothing could go wrong.

Until they met Disco Bear walking towards them. "Oh yeah!" he said as he listened and danced to disco music from his walkman as he walked on the streets. He spots Petunia walking around with Lifty and sees another opportunity to flirt.

He walked while dancing his groovy moves toward Petunia. He put forward his face as close as he dared, and said, "Hey Blue, why don't you and me—" but was cut off.

"Hey back off, creep," Lifty said as he pushed Disco Bear away with a swing of his left arm as he pulled Petunia away from Disco Bear.

Disco Bear simply shrugged the rebuff. He then listened to his music when he discovered to his horror that his walkman was gone. Not only that, when he tried to reach for his wallet, it was missing.

He quickly registered what had happened. He looked at the grinning Lifty walking away from him. "Stop! Thief!" he shouted as ran towards Lifty and Petunia.

Lifty just laughed as he grabbed Petunia's wrists and ran.

* * *

"Lumpy! This is our chance! Let's go after them!" Sniffles shouted.

"But you said we should only follow him so he won't suspect a thing?" Lumpy asked.

"Yes, but he robbed Disco Bear! He'll think that we're after him because of that!" Sniffles explained.

"Just what I was thinking," replied Lumpy as he stepped on the gas. "Oops, forgot the siren and the beacon."

Lumpy, while driving, turned on the police siren, got the magnetic beacon, and placed it on the top of the car. Unfortunately, multitasking was not one of the moose's strong points, and his eyes were off the road while he was placing the beacon.

"Watch out!" Sniffles shouted as Disco Bear appeared right before the car. Lumpy swerved to avoid the bear. The car as a result hit a nearby tree. Unfortunately, Handy was hiding in the bushes besides the tree and he was hit instead. Blood covered the front of Sniffles' car as Handy's organs splattered on the tree and on the bushes and on the windshield. Disco Bear backed out and ran from the car, thankful for the reprieve.

Unfortunately, the car was reversed and Lumpy was able to put the car back on the road, without first cleaning the windshield. He hit the gas with Sniffles shouting, "The windshield wiper! Turn the windshield wiper on, you idiot!"

"Oh!" Lumpy exclaimed as he realized he'd been driving a few seconds without seeing the road. He turned on the wiper but before he did, he heard a loud squishing sound as if the car hit something. The wiper quickly cleared the blood and guts of Handy from the windshield. Lumpy hit the breaks and looked forward. Seeing nothing, he pressed the gas hard. Lumpy and Sniffles felt the car jolt upward then downward unevenly as it moved forward. "I never knew there was a hump there before," Lumpy remarked as he focused on Lifty and Petunia.

Sniffles looked back. "That's no hump! That's Disco Bear!" he gasped. "That sound before you stopped the car! It was when you hit Disco Bear! And we didn't see him afterwards because he lay prone just in front of the car, out of your field of vision!"

Lumpy simply nodded sadly as he drove and said, "Thus, another one dies in the line of duty!"

"He's not doing any duty! He's a bystander who had nothing to do with this!" Sniffles protested.

"Yes, a bystander in the line of duty," Lumpy continued, completely missing Sniffles point.

Two dead, and all innocent, was what Sniffles was thinking, shaking his head. How many more?

Lumpy got the speaker on the car, and shouted, "Give up Lifty! You're under arrest for the theft of Disco's Bear's walkman!"

Lifty looked behind and was surprised that it was not Disco Bear who was chasing him, but Lumpy the sheriff in a bloodstained car. Lifty became afraid, and started running as fast as he could, dragging Petunia by the arm. He just had to be too greedy! He just had to steal from Disco Bear! Damn it, if he left that bear alone, he wouldn't be in trouble!

Looking around, he decided to ditch Petunia as dead weight. He scanned the area, and saw what he was looking for.

* * *

Pop was in a dejected mood. He had been walking aimlessly in the park for the past hour or so. Cub had died earlier today because of his carelessness—again. He recalled, with pain in his heart, the events of the day. It was a fine morning, so Pop decided to put Cub on a stroller. He had learned in the incident of the Kitchen Sink—he shuddered at the memory—that it is not a good idea to put your toddler on a wagon. Unfortunately, he decided bring his son on the tall hills overlooking the sea. He saw Handy walking down the hill, and waved to him. Unfortunately, the act of waving for Pop necessitated for a moment that he let go of the stroller. Pop thought nothing at all of it. After all, it was only a couple of seconds, right?

Pop turned his head towards his son only to see the stroller speeding down the hill. "Cub! I'm coming!" he shouted as he chased after the runaway stroller. The stroller, however, was too fast. Pop saw there were a couple of rocks at the side of the cliff by the sea. The rocks stopped the stroller. However, the momentum threw Cub off into the sea. Pop looked in horror as Cub got impaled by a buoy. Pop cried, and in anger and in sorrow, threw large rocks towards the ocean.

Pop later learned that Russell was oyster diving just below the cliff, and one of the larger rocks he threw trapped his foot on the bottom floor. Another hit a nearby swordfish who then attacked Russell as a result and tore the pipe of his scuba gear. Pop could not be but struck by the coincidence.

He was thankful however that he lived in this town, or he would have long ago permanently lost his son. If only his wife made it here, then she would survive. When they were newlyweds, they planned on moving to Happy Tree Town after the birth of their son. They even bought a house. What he did not know is that her wife was frail, and she died delivering Cub. After the funeral, he moved to Happy Tree Town. He shortly had his wife's remains reburied in the town. If only they moved here before Cub was born.

He was deeply flawed as a father, he knew, but he loved Cub. He knew he would see his son tomorrow, yet he could not bear to see his son die. If only he was more careful, if only…

Pop stopped his musings as he reached his car by the side of the park. Taking his keys, he opened the door, and was about to enter, when suddenly, something pushed him away from his vehicle and grabbed the keys. Pop was shocked as Lifty drove away. "That's my car!" Pop shouted.

Pop looked around. He saw Petunia in the middle of the street, dazed and a little confused, and a car with a police beacon and siren covered in blood heading straight for her. He saw it was Lumpy driving. Lumpy stepped on the break, but it was clear to Pop that it was not going to stop in time. Thinking quickly, he rushed and pulled Petunia out of the way.

The car stopped and Sniffles ran to the two. "Is she alright?"

"She's in a daze, but she's alright, no thanks to Sheriff Lumphead," Pop replied.

"Sorry about that," Lumpy shouted, "but I didn't see her in time. Hey buddy," he called to Sniffles, "Come on! We're gonna lose him!"

"You go on ahead, somebody needs to take care of Petunia," Sniffles said as he assisted the blue skunk off the streets. "Thanks Pop. And Lumpy, don't forget Lifty's cellphone. Remember, it's about Disco Bear's walkman if he asks anything."

"Okay then," Lumpy said, but before he could slam the door shot, Pop darted into the front seat where Sniffles had sat before.

"Pop, what are you doing?" Lumpy demanded.

"That's my car! And if you don't want to loose it, I suggest you step on it," Pop replied, having none of the respect others have towards the blue moose. In many ways, he was the one who is least intimidated by the blue moose, as he is much older than him, and wiser, in many ways.

Lumpy was eager to catch the raccoon, so he grudgingly accepted Pop into Sniffles' car. "Okay, but don't get in my way, or I'll have you arrested for interfering with police work!"

"As if you have the guts!" Pop replied. "I'll sue you if you do so!"

The chase was on as Pop and Lumpy chased Lifty in Pop's car across the town.

* * *

Flaky, Flippy, and Cuddles parked the jeep a few houses from Petunia's. They don't want to excite the suspicions of Shifty of their presence. They walked as quietly as possible towards Petunia's house.

They hid just below a window in Petunia's hollowed out tree house to discuss plans. "So what's the plan?" asked Cuddles.

"We'll first have a look," Flippy said as he took a periscope from his pocket and handed it to Cuddles. "Tell us what you see."

Cuddles used the periscope to look inside the house. He saw Petunia's house stripped bare, boxes which presumably contains the stolen items, Shifty walking around a stool. He looked it up. What he saw made his blood boil.

Giggles was standing on the stool, hands tied behind her, foot bound, gagged with tape, but what made consumed Cuddles with rage was the noose around her neck. Any small trip, accident would kill his Giggles. Not Giggles! His playmate, his first crush, his girlfriend! Well, not yet officially, but everyone else understood! She who made some of his saddest days cheerful, she who helped him out of his deepest troubles, she who cradled him on her lap during his many deaths on Happy Tree Town, and he in turn cradled her when she died first. She with whom they died in each others arms so many times.

Cuddles saw blood in his eyes. Within seconds, he led a bloodcurdling scream as he rushed through the open window. "Giggles!" he shouted. If he had an opposite counterpart like Flippy, it would have emerged. Shifty had his back turned to Cuddles, but turned around when he heard his shout. It had the effect that his face absorbed the fist of the yellow bunny instead of the back of the head. He staggered backward before falling on his back.

Flaky and Flippy were so stunned that they did not notice Giggles nor did they act as they watched Cuddles pummel Shifty. Cuddles used his left hand to grab the fedora wearing raccoon while using his right to punch him in the face. So hard were the punches that Shifty began feeling dizzy. His arms flailed around uselessly, until he was able to grab the ceramic lamp.

With every ounce of his remaining strength, Shifty smashed the lamp onto Cuddles' head, breaking it into a million pieces. Giggles screamed into her gag as Cuddles collapsed into a pool of his own blood as his head bled from the sharp pieces of ceramic. She calmed down when she noticed his breathing, indicating that he was still alive. But he was unconscious and in need of medical attention.

The action led Flippy to have another painful flashback. Evil emerged, looking with sadistic glee upon Shifty. He laughed in his low, sadistic tone, and Shifty, Giggles, and Flaky became very afraid.

Flaky was lucky as she was behind Evil, and Cuddles already looked dead, and Giggles obviously was not going anywhere, so his eyes were fixed on Shifty. He took his bowie knife, and with a maniacal grin, advanced towards Shifty.

"Oh nuts!" Shifty shouted as he turned and ran, while Evil gave chase. While passing by Giggles, the evil green bear kicked out the stool from under her without so much as a glance as he chased after Shifty. The raccoon was so scared as he was reminded of being carved by Flippy with a cookie, that he forgot that he had the keys to Petunia's car and he simply ran out the back door with Flippy chasing him.

Flaky had enough presence of mind to run towards Giggles as soon as she realized what had happened. Before Giggle's neck could snap or she could suffocate, Flaky grabbed her legs. It did just the job as she was saved. Yet she could not do anything. Flaky has to hug Giggles by the legs until someone comes and removes the noose, because if she does anything else, Giggles will slip and be hung by the neck. The problem is Flaky's endurance. Giggles is a light chipmunk, but Flaky physical strength is weak. If nobody came soon enough, it will only be a matter of time before her strength gave out and she would be forced to drop Giggles. Even worse is that Cuddles is beside her, unconscious, alive, but bleeding. The wounds are not life threatening, but it needs immediate attention. "Flippy, anyone, please hurry," she shouted.

* * *

Sniffles was unsure of what to do. Where should he take Petunia? He can't take her back to her home as Shifty might still be there. Petunia was already recovering as she shook her head. After a few seconds, she was able to stand on her own two feet yet she still had to rest her arm on Sniffles forehead to balance as she was still reeling from the days' events.

"Should we go home?" asked the skunk to the anteater.

"Yes, but which home?" Sniffles wondered. He wanted to go and rescue Giggles, but he did not want to drag Petunia into it. "You want to stay at my place until this can be all sorted out?"

"I would appreciate that," Petunia replied. "I hope I won't be a bother."

"Nonsense! I have a spare room. Besides, I'm sure it won't be needed. I'm confident that everything will get sorted out before the day is out," Sniffles assured.

"Yes, I know, but will we all die first before it happens?" Petunia asked.

"Not all of us," Sniffles replied as he knew that Handy and Disco Bear were already dead. And he knew in his guts that at least a couple of his friends might die, if not already dead.

And it would not be the first, he mused. There was the earlier fire at Petunia's house where he was among the first to die, the hike in the woods, the trip to the zoo, the concrete sugar mix-up, and the infamous Christmas play. It they would die right now, he knew, it wouldn't matter in the long term. That's how twisted Happy Tree Town is.

Petunia wrapped her arms around Sniffles right as a form of comfort and security as they walked towards Sniffles' home. She was very impressed by Sniffles' actions that day, and her estimation of the nerdy anteater went up a million notches. Now, of all her male friends, Sniffles now ranks at the top—above Handy, above Cuddles, certainly above Flippy, above all. She only knew it now, and was glad. He may be nerdy, he may be a geek, but she likes him no less because of it. Yes, she admits, she likes him very much.

"By the way, what did you do with my money? How much did you give to Lifty?" asked Petunia.

Sniffles smiled. "Nothing at all. You see, a few days ago, the government confiscated a million dollars worth of counterfeit bills. They were given to us to destroy, which we'll do in two days. I put paper on the bag and put the counterfeit bills on top to fool Lifty," Sniffles said. "Here's your bankbook."

Petunia took it and looked over its contents. She smiled as she saw that it has not been touched. "Oh thank you! You're so wonderful!"

Sniffles merely smiled. "Oh, anybody in my position would do the same! Besides, we're friends! What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't help you?"

"Oh, maybe so, but still—" Petunia gave Sniffles a kiss to the cheek, "thanks"

"You're welcome," Sniffles said. "Oh, here we are! Home sweet home. Well, just make yourself comfortable."

Petunia looked around and was dismayed by the topsy-turvy look on Sniffles house. Books were scattered in very nook and cranny, charts and worksheets were everywhere, the walls have various chemical stains on it, and the like. "Sniffles, from now on, I'll clean your house free of charge every week," Petunia stated. "And don't say you can't accept!"

"But I can't accept! It's your business! It's your service! You charge everyone else, I also should pay for it," Sniffles protested. "You'll be ruined!"

"But you have. The consideration for all the cleaning that I'll do for you was your actions this day," Petunia replied.

"Like a prepayment?" asked Sniffles.

"Exactly!" Petunia said as she went to the kitchen. "Where do you keep your cleaning materials?"

At least she was beginning to get over the days' events, Sniffles thought.

**Notes: **Thank you for the reviews.

Thanks to **PennytheFuckingWise, fridix95, Kitten630, deadliving **and**xSunshineBearx.**

**PennyFuckingWise**, yeah, as much as possible, I want to have my story based on what happened in the episodes, so I won't go out of character with the characters.

**Fridix95**, thanks for liking my story.

**Kitten630,** I'm sorry if I made them the villain. Shifty and Lifty are also one of my favourite characters. It's just that they fit the role so perfectly, and no other Tree Friends can be so without being out of character.

**Deadliving**, I don't think Lumpy's a retard. After all, he can drive, conduct a school play, perform open heart surgery and make heart transplants. I believe he simply is incompetent and careless and have no common sense.

**xSunshineBearx, **yeah, Poor Giggles. Let's hope that she gets out of it alive. If not, well, this is Happy Tree Friends after all. Glad you like how I portrayed Petunia.

Thanks to all of you!!!


	4. Finale

**Chapter 4 **

**Finale**

The car chase between Lifty, Pop and Lumpy, was intensifying. Lifty kept looking at the rear view mirror for any sign that he might have ditched the sheriff, but the siren and the beacon and the bloodstained vehicle refuse to leave the tail of Pop's car.

Lumpy, for his part, kept his eye and the car on Lifty. He was concerned for his friend Giggles, and he was determined that he would get that cellphone no matter what. He was so focused on Lifty that he hit and killed several pedestrians along the way.

"Faster! Faster!" Pop shouted. "He's getting away! And don't drive so recklessly. Just because they come back to life doesn't mean you could be careless with lives!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Lumpy replied. "And you're the one to talk, Mr. Model Father!"

"Don't drag my son into this!" Pop growled. "And you're too slow! I'm going to lose my car if you don't hurry up!"

"Oh shut up! There are more important things to worry about than your stupid car!"

"Yeah! Like Disco Bear's walkman and cell phone!" Pop bitterly replied.

"Oh will you please shut up!" Lumpy shouted. "I can't concentrate! You're seriously interfering with police work! The most important thing is Giggles' life, get it! Not your car, not that idiot's walkman, and not thief's cell phone!"

Pop was surprised. "How is Giggles involved in these?"

By now, they were at the outskirts of town. Both cars were already drenched in mud as Lifty took a 'short cut' which turned out to be a dirt path through fields of grain in an area that recently rained.

"Shifty is holding Giggles hostage in her house," Lumpy explained. "Lifty will call Shifty if Petunia rats on their scheme. So we need to get that cell phone. But as far as he's concerned, we're after him because he stole Disco Bear's walkman and your car."

Pop immediately grasp the significance of what they're doing. Its not about theft, it's about saving lives. "Get a move on! We need to save Giggles! And my car!"

They emerged from the dirt path unto a highway besides a cliff overlooking the sea, where the chase continued. The highway during this part of day is busy, with unfortunate consequences.

"Look out you moron!" Pop shouted. "We're going to get hit by that truck!"

Lumpy screamed. "I know! I know!"

Luckily, the police beacon caused the truck to swerve to avoid the car. The resulting action saved Pop and Lumpy, but it caused a ten vehicle pile-up behind them, and seconds later, an explosion ended the lives of scores of motorists.

Lifty laughed when he heard the explosion behind him, figuring that he had shaken off his pursuers. Taking a look at the rear view mirror, he was peeved that that Lumpy was still chasing him. He looked at the gas meter and it was running low. "Just my luck to steal a car low on gas!" he cursed as he stepped on the gas to try and evade the sheriff.

* * *

Shifty ran as if his life depended on it—which it did. He was so terrified that he could see Flippy on every corner and on every house he passed by. After running for about ten minutes, stumbling many times in the process, he looked around for any sign of the psychotic bear. When he was satisfied that Flippy was gone, he gave a sigh of relief and went to a nearby apple tree to rest. He laughed at his good fortune of being alive.

He put his hand on his pocket, where he felt Petunia's car keys. He immediately cursed himself for not taking the car. He had already stacked a lot of items in her car. Fleeing with it would at least make the heist partially successful. He wondered—everything was so perfect! What could have gone wrong? The blue skunk obviously squealed. And that brother of his did not stop her! He should have hung Giggles! No, he won't do that—he's won't kill anyone deliberately.

Shifty heard his cell phone ring. "Yes. Lifty, where the hell have you been? You're being chased by that moose? No. That blue skunk must have squealed to that green bear. Yes, the same one who carved me with a Christmas cookie. Why did you let her rat us out? Oh, it's that anteater's fault, eh? You got the money! All of them? Good! Why are you being chased? You imbecile! You just have to rob that idiot, didn't you? Don't let them catch you. I repeat, don't let them catch you! That loot that you've got there is the only thing we've been able to successfully rob. I've been chased out of the house by Flippy, you nincompoop! Oh I'm the idiot now Lifty, eh? At least I'm not being chased by a dumb moose right now! Fine! Don't loose that money! As soon as you've ditched them, meet me at our hideout."

In spite of their altercation, Shifty was pleased. The mission was a success after all. As long as his brother could escape the sheriff, and he had no doubt that Lifty could do so, they'll end this mission rich, or if not, then reasonably well-off. He began laughing out loud. "Ha, we've won! We're rich!" he shouted.

Lifty would surely crow to Shifty. After all, Lifty succeeded whereas he failed. Still, it doesn't matter. He sat on a rock besides the tree. He took Petunia's car keys and looked at it again. The keys were shiny and he could see his reflection. Then he froze. Through the shiny reflection, he could see Evil Flippy grinning evilly and standing on the branch above. "How did you get up there without me seeing you?" shouted a terrified Shifty.

"You forget, I'm a soldier," Evil Flippy stated as he jumped from the tree. Shifty panicked and tried to flee, but the bear grabbed his tail, and used it to slam the raccoon's back against his knee.

Experiencing excruciating pain, Shifty screamed when his back broke upon Flippy's knee. It only made Evil Flippy laugh. "Oh look, I forgot my knife," he said. "I think I'll just use this then!" Flippy pried open Shifty's closed left fist and took Petunia's car key. "It's so shiny, isn't it?" he said as he admired it. He took hold of the paralyzed Shifty using his left hand, and clutched the key on his right. "Look at those jagged teeth on the key. Looks like a knife, doesn't it? Do you think that it could pierce skin and flesh and bone? Let's find out."

With a swift, powerful movement, he stabbed Shifty on the abdomen with the key. Shifty screamed again, but Flippy stepped on his neck and broke his throat to silence him. "I don't want crybabies," Evil said as he thrust the key upwards to his chest, tearing a huge gash on Shifty's torso and spraying blood on the bear. Shifty was still alive, but he was on his death throes. The veteran then plunged his paws inside the raccoon. When he withdrew it, he ripped out the Shifty's small intestines out of his body. He fashioned a noose out of the organ, tied it around the thief's neck, swung the other end to tree branch, pulled it until Shifty hung from the tree by his own intestines. Flippy only laughed as he saw Shifty's stomach and liver fall out of the torso gash. The bear was now red from being covered in blood. After a minute, Shifty was mercifully dead.

Pocketing the car key, Evil Flippy scanned the area for the next victim. Fortunately for the inhabitants of Happy Tree Town who were still alive, he slammed his fist against the trunk of the apple tree. An apple fell from the tree and hit Flippy on the head. He immediately flipped back to his normal self.

He gasped when he saw the dead Shifty and the fact that he was covered in blood. "Flaky! Giggles! Cuddles!" he remembered. "I hope they're still alive."

With that, he ran fast towards their house.

* * *

Sniffles was in his laboratory conducting one of his experiments. He wanted to help Giggles, but did not want to leave Petunia alone. He simply hoped that everything would turn out all right.

He was mixing chemicals when he heard the sweet voice of the blue skunk. "Hey!"

"Petunia! You're done already?" Sniffles said without taking his eyes from his chemicals.

"Yes. Really, you're house is not as dirty as some of the other ones I cleaned!" Petunia claimed.

"You're amazing! I mean I always knew you're a super cleaning lady, but I'd thought it'd take longer than an hour to clean that mess!" he laughed as he transferred the chemicals to a test tube to heat it with a burner.

"Yes. I am a neat freak you know!" Petunia stated. "And I do this for a living. What are you doing?"

"Oh I'm testing whether the nitrate compound of the chemical will break the ionic bonds—oh sorry, sometimes I forget that my words can get over the head of others!" Sniffles laughed. "Just watch. I'm developing an antidote to Kryptonut for Splendid. If I'm successful, Splendid would no longer have a weakness to that gem."

Petunia just chuckled as she watched. Sniffles poured the blue chemical in the test tube into a beaker with green liquid. The green liquid in the beaker remained green.

"Great Newton's Apple!" Sniffles cursed. "It didn't turn to red! Well, so much for that hypothesis." Sniffles cleaned the chemicals and wrote a few items in his notebook.

"Oh I'm sure you can find the answer," Petunia offered. "Well, you want me to help you clean up?"

"Thanks!" Sniffles replied. "Well, Splendid would just have to wait."

"Sniffles, I think I'll throw a party for those of us who went through the events of this day, and I'll invite everyone who saved us or at least helped. So that means I'll invite you," Petunia started.

"And Lumpy," Sniffles opined.

"Pop should come too," Petunia added.

"And you can't invite Pop without inviting Cub too," Sniffles said.

"And we shouldn't forget poor Handy."

"How about Disco Bear," asked Sniffles.

"Oh not that pervert! No!" Petunia refused.

"But if he didn't let Lifty pilfer his walkman, then you'd still be with that thief!" Sniffles protested.

"Oh please! He didn't really do anything! And if he did, he's stupid to let Lifty steal from him!" Petunia retorted. "I'm sure Giggles would not want to be near that depraved bear."

"Okay, okay. So it's like Flaky's second party?" Sniffles asked.

"Kinda, but different," Petunia. "Don't worry, I won't let it upstage Flaky's bash for Flippy."

* * *

"I knew Shifty would bungle that one," Lifty grumbled as he put his cellphone back to his pocket. "And I shouldn't have let Petunia out of my sight at that bank!" he cursed.

But he had bigger things to worry about. Lifty was now desperate. The gas tank was nearly empty. He looked behind and saw a jerry can filled with gasoline. Looking at the rearview mirror, he saw Pop and Lumpy at his heels. "I can't stop for gas," Lifty ruminated. "Perhaps, I can do something."

He saw the opening of the fuel tank just in front of him past the windshield. Quickly lowering the side window, he reached for it with his left hand (with the right hand on the wheel), opened the fuel tank, opened the jerry can, and tried to put the gas in the tank. Doing so while driving may be suicidal, but what is death in this town? It was hard, as the can was heavy, and his left arm strained to keep the can in his hands. Yet he could feel it getting lighter and lighter as the gas gauge meter went up. Unfortunately, he was so preoccupied with refuelling that he did not notice the curve ahead. He looked forward, and saw too late that he was heading towards the base of a cliff.

There was a sickening crash as the car collided with the base of the rocky cliff. Behind Lifty, Lumpy and Pop immediately stopped their car. Exiting the vehicle they rushed towards the wrecked vehicle.

"My car!" Pop cried as he surveyed the damage.

"Poor soul," Lumpy mourned as he examined the corpse of Lifty. "He never made it."

Lifty's bloody body was smashed against the base of the cliff, his left hand clutching the now empty jerry can, his right hand holding the detached steering wheel of the car. The front of the car was smashed.

Pop examined the body. "Yes. He must have removed his seatbelt to be able to refuel while driving. His body went through the windshield, broke it, and collided with the wall of rock. If that didn't kill him, the glass shards would."

"Well, I better go to the car and make the report," Lumpy stated as he went back to the car. "You coming?"

"I'll just stay here for a while and see what I can salvage," Pop replied.

"Suit yourself," the sheriff answered as he went back to the car to write the report.

Pop sighed. At least the insurance will cover this, he thought. He took a match, lit his pipe, and carelessly threw the lighted match behind him.

Unfortunately, the lighted match landed in the open fuel tank of Pop's car. Having been recently filled by Lifty, it was nearly full of gas.

Lumpy was startled by the explosion of the crashed car. "Pop!" the blue moose shouted as he ducked behind Sniffles' car to avoid the falling debris. One such debris, a shard of metal from the car, hit his car, piercing the vehicle.

Lumpy, after the explosion, tried to see if Pop survived. He did not. He could see the two parts of Pop's burning body that was separated by the explosion. Lumpy took off his hat in respect. "I hope he doesn't blame me when he gets back," he whispered to himself. He took off the shard that pierced Sniffles' car and went inside the vehicle. Hoping that the car would not explode, he turned the key, and was delighted that it ran smoothly. What he didn't know is that the shard that pierced the car also disabled the breaks.

He hummed to himself, congratulating himself on a job well done, and went to Petunia's house to arrest Shifty, not knowing that Shifty, at this point in time, was dead.

* * *

Flaky was tired. All of her energies were starting to drain. But she could not let go of Giggles. Giggles herself was still. She knew that any wrong move would result in her death.

"Giggles, I'm not going to let go of you!" Flaky said in her usual timid voice.

Giggles tried to encourage her, but her gag only permitted her to give muffled incomprehensible sounds.

By this time, Flaky's arms were ready to give out. She felt Giggles slipping, but tightened her grip. "Someone! Anybody! Help!" she screamed, hoping someone would come and rescue Giggles.

She was delighted when Flippy, covered with blood, entered the room. Flippy gasped and quickly cut the rope holding it to the wall. With danger averted, Flaky let go of Giggles and the chipmunk tumbled on to the floor—hurt but safe. Flippy, using his knife, cut the ropes binding Giggles and removed the tape on her mouth. Giggles spat what turned out to be two rolls of socks in her mouth. "Cuddles!" was her first reaction as cradled the bleeding rabbit on her arms.

"He needs first aid," Flippy said as he went to the piles of boxes on the corner of the room. "Where is Petunia's?"

"On the top box right there on that pile. I saw Shifty put it there," Giggles stated while pointing to carefully stacked boxes on the corner of the room. Flippy quickly retrieved it and tossed it to pink chipmunk.

Giggles, who works part time as a nurse, quickly removed the pieces of ceramic on Cuddles' head, and wrapped his head in bandages to stem the flow of blood.

"Is he going to be alright?" Flaky asked.

"Yes," Giggles answered. "The blood loss isn't serious. He's just knocked out."

"That's good," Flaky approved. "At least none of us died."

"Except Shifty," Flippy retorted.

"But he doesn't count," Giggles replied. "So we all survived. That's a first. I just hope Petunia is alright."

"G-g-g-g-giggles? Are you okay?" Cuddles struggled as he opened his eyes.

"Yes, I am," Giggles said with tears on her eyes. "And so are you."

"I'm glad everything is okay," the rabbit answered. "I'm sorry for getting into trouble. I thought you'd die so I attacked without thinking. I don't want you to get hurt. I love y…your company so much."

Giggles smiled coyly, indicating that she recognized the Freudian slip. "I love you... I mean I love your company and your tail too!"

Both of them, as well as Flippy and Flaky, who had been watching them, burst into laughter at the awkward moment. "Hey Cuddles, you hear that? She loves your tail! Maybe if you treat her better, she'll love your hair and your ears too!" Flippy teased, laughing at Flaky's shoulders. Flaky laughed too, but in a more timid manner.

"Oh stop it!" Giggles said, but she laughed more, while Cuddles simply blushed.

Yet all of them knew the intimate and unique bond between Cuddles and Giggles. And all of them knew that it was only a matter of time when it would blossom into a full relationship.

"How about you two? Aren't you two dating each other?" Giggles asked.

"Um, no," Flippy replied. "We're just the best of friends."

"And what were you two doing last Friday night? Don't deny it! I saw you!" Cuddles demanded.

"It was a geography lesson," Flippy quickly replied. "I felt that the best way to teach someone about their home town is to give them a personal tour!" he explained with a straight face, giving the impression that he was absolutely serious.

"Yeah! I was curious so I asked Flippy about the town," Flaky, who was now blushing, added.

"At night?" Cuddles asked with eyebrows raised.

"And your lesson limited to each other's home, the movie theatre, the park, and the fancy restaurant?" Giggles joined, now grinning widely.

"It was night because it's our only mutual free time," Flippy answered without a sweat. "As for the places, we had precious few time, and we both agreed to tour those which is of the most interest to us."

"Oh, and repeatedly?" Cuddles asked.

"You can't learn everything of a single visit," Flippy answered.

Flippy was able to answer all questions, but Cuddles and Giggles simply smiled knowingly at the two.

Twenty minutes later, the four were seated on the kitchen table, recently unpacked, drinking coffee and eating a light snack, prepared by Giggles and Flaky.

"The unusual thing about today is not what happened," Giggles opined, "but that nobody died, except Shifty. Usually, at events like this, half the town would already be dead."

"You forgot about Toothy," Cuddles remembered. "He was impaled on his eye by the closet hook," the rabbit explained to Giggles. "What is it with Toothy and his eye? Half his deaths involve his eyes for crying out loud!"

"And I killed Mime, Nutty, and Mole," Flaky reminisced. "I hit them with my car when I was rushing towards you. I hope they won't take it against me."

"I'm sure they'll forgive you and forget about it," Cuddles said.

"Yes. Look at Flippy. No one has a grudge against him or is angry with him. So you'll be okay. Besides, you've caused other deaths before and they forgave you," Giggles added.

* * *

Lumpy was smoking a cigar as he drove across town. He did not silence the siren nor did he remove the police beacon so as to clear the road in front of him and enable him to run past red traffic lights. It was unnecessary. There were few if any vehicles on the road, and the traffic signs obliged. Thus, he did not have to slow down or to make way for other vehicles. It was only as he approached Petunia's house that he felt compelled to slow down. He gently exerted pressure on the breaks, but Sniffles' car did not slow down. He then tried to totally stop the car, but the vehicle refused to respond. That is when he realized the breaks were not working.

The car was soon out of control. Lumpy looked for something to crash his car into to stop the vehicle. He saw Petunia' house, and decided to ram the car on the tree opposite her home.

Flippy was first to notice the approaching moose. "It must be Lumpy," Flippy mentioned as he heard the police siren. He went outside to greet the sheriff, followed by Giggles and Flaky. Cuddles, who was not feeling too well, opted to watch Lumpy arrive from a window.

"Oh my God!" Giggles gasped on her yard when she saw Sniffles' car out of control.

"Looks like the breaks aren't working!" Flippy observed as the car seems to be heading their way. "Everybody go inside! He's coming!"

But before they could react, the car swerved and hit the tree opposite the house. "Lumpy!" Flaky and Giggles shouted. Lumpy was slumped against the wheel, still alive. His left arm dangled out the window, with a lighted cigar held on his fingers.

Flippy could see that a pool of gas had formed just below the car, and saw that Lumpy's cigar was dropping out of his hand and into the pool of gas.

"Duck!" Flippy shouted as he jumped towards Flaky to push her to the ground. Flaky fell on her belly to the ground having been pushed from behind. Unfortunately, Flippy was impaled on her quills as he jumped on the porcupine from behind. There was an explosion, and shards of metal and glass flew everywhere. Giggles was near the door so she was able to quickly enter the house and close the door to avoid the flying shards. However, one metal shard entered the window where Cuddles was looking out. It was so fast that he didn't even see it come and hit his neck.

Giggles screamed and cried as she saw Cuddles' head roll from his body towards where she was standing. She heard Flaky screaming from outside. Fearing the worst, she looked out the window, and saw Flippy dead on the quills of Flaky. She promptly fainted.

Thus ended a day which only the three girls—and Sniffles—survived.

**Note****:** I was planning that this would be the last chapter, as the title suggests, but as I typed it, it became so long that I had to split it up into two parts. I already finished the next chapter, and after I proof read it, I'll post it.

Thanks to **deadliving, Kitten360, **and especially **yellowkirby** for the kind reviews.

To **deadliving**, yes I agree with you about Lumpy. He is one of my favourite characters, and I try to make him realistic.

To **Kitten360, **well, I hope this update is soon enough, so please don't eat me. Anyway, I hope you like this update.

To **yellowkirby,** thank you for your kind comments. I usually proofread my works before uploading it to document manager, then proofread it again before the actual posting. That way, I can detect many errors which would have gone unnoticed had I posted it after I finished typing.

Thanks again for your review.


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It was about a week after the hostage taking at Petunia's house. During that day, only four of the principals involved—Petunia, Giggles, Flaky and Sniffles—survived. The two most affected—Giggles and Petunia—quickly recovered their bearings. After all, they had been through worse straits. The others simply shrugged off the event. It was not an unusual even in Happy Tree Town—in fact, being killed was an expected, if unwelcome, event.

Petunia talked to Giggles about her idea of a party, and even though she had reservations about the propriety of it, Giggles agreed as long as she would host the party at her house. To Giggles, it was peculiar that they'd even want to remember what had happened, but Petunia convinced her it is to thank the others for what they've done for them.

During the course of the week, several of their party died a couple of times. However, this is par on course and expected—they died from the usual freak accidents that seem to occur regularly in their town. They would commemorate not the death, but the fact that they were taken hostage and kidnapped and were rescued. They had forgiven the raccoons, but they were not invited.

The affair as planned by the girls was solemn and dignified. It was strictly a white tie party. They agreed to invite only those who had helped them or had saved their lives during the affair. As such, they only invited Cuddles, Flippy, Flaky, Handy, Lumpy, Sniffles, Pop, and Cub. Cuddles tried to get Toothy invited, arguing that he died too, but Petunia retorted that he didn't do anything to save them. She also vetoed the other victims, like Mole, Nutty, and Mime, as they did not contribute in any way to their rescue. Giggles was hesitant to agree to Petunia's exclusion of the others, but she finally relented to her friends' wishes.

The men involved were quite perplexed by the plans of the two girls. They had no problem attending any party thrown by any of their friends, but they were puzzled by the purpose of it. Hadn't they already been thanked enough during the immediate aftermath? And what's there to thank if you got saved one day, and got killed the next day for something totally unrelated? And there were plenty of times before where such thanks was merited but there was no party or celebration to formally give it. And why not invite the others? Still, they accepted.

* * *

It was the night of the party, exactly one week after the hostage taking incident.

All the men wore tuxedos, except for Flippy who wore blue military formal dress, complete with sword. All the women wore formal dresses.

The boys were in one corner of the house chatting with each other. "Ha! You're the one to talk!" Lumpy boasted over a glass of champagne. "You might have killed the most deliberately! But I still have the highest kill count! And Splendid killed more than you, Flippy!"

"Yeah, but you died more times than me!!" Flippy rebutted, having already drank two glasses, but not yet drunk or even tipsy. "You could count in your fingers the number of times I died! Heck, you seem to die every week!"

"At least not as much as Cuddles, who dies everyday!" Lumpy answered, by now getting tipsy, but still in command of his senses.

"Hey!" Cuddles answered, who also had downed half a glass, but like Flippy, still sober. "That's an exaggeration! I only die twice a week for your information! And I don't die because of my stupidity or carelessness, unlike some blue mooses out there!"

"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Sniffles added. He was the only of the party who doesn't drink alcohol, but like the others, got carried away by the boasting going on. "This party is about the hostage kidnap situation last week! During that day, I was the only guy left alive!"

"Isn't this kind of morbid," Handy asked the others, "talking about death this way?" Having no hands, he had to drink using a straw, but haven't touched his yet, as he was planning on drinking after eating cake.

"Handy, you know it will happen, and it will happen in the most gruesome manner, yet you'll be good as new as always!" Lumpy answered. "So why not talk and laugh about it? It'll do no good to fret about it everyday!!"

"But if you have a son of your own, and you see him die on an almost daily basis," Pop opined, "then you would not talk about death this way." Pop also drinks, but like Flippy, has a cast iron stomach and could not get drunk easily. He was clearheaded and sober at this point in time.

Flippy turned serious. "Yes, but I don't think I'd want to raise a family in this town," the green bear rejoined. "I don't think I could see what you see everyday—your son die—and mostly because I fear I'll be the one who'll kill him the most."

"Yes," Cuddles added. "But you'll know that no matter what happens, your kid will be brought back to life. I'd say that it's better to raise a family here, since you would never lose a child to death, nor would your child have permanent injuries. Outside, once you die, that's it! Here, death is merely an inconvenience. It's something you'd want to avoid, like getting a cold, but it's still just an inconvenience."

"And who knows?" Handy stated. "Maybe your evil side wouldn't kill his own flesh and blood."

* * *

Giggles, Flaky, and Petunia were also talking with each other in the dining area. "That cake is beautiful," Flaky commented upon seeing a large cake in the middle of the table. "You'd think someone was having a birthday or a wedding!"

"I baked it myself!" Giggles proudly beamed. "And I'd have a large red candle just for it!"

"Speaking of red candles, I saw a box of dynamite in your room," Petunia said. "Just like that box of red candles," she said, pointing to the box of red candles besides the table. "What is up with that?"

"It's Lumpy's. After the dam broke, I went and confiscated his supply of dynamite. Those poor fish," Giggles replied. "I swear! Dynamite fishing would be the ruin of our town!"

"How'd you get it?" asked Flaky. "I don't think he'd give it to you just like that."

"Oh I took it while he was dead," Giggles replied. "I know it's not nice, but for the environment, I'm willing to be mean."

They noticed the men getting louder. "Let's go there before they become too drunk!" Giggles suggested. "I'd hate it if they pass out before we get to the main event."

"Not to mention kill themselves, and us, in the process," Flaky added.

"I swear!" Petunia said. "Sometimes they can be so immature!"

The three women then joined the men in the talking. Unlike the men, the three women are not comfortable talking about the peculiar mortality of the town in such an open, frank, and even brutal and boastful manner, so they changed topics. Giggles also took the bottle of champagne among them and put it in the table, much to the protests of the men. "Now boys, only after you've eaten the cake!" Petunia gently chided.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cub had been wandering in Giggles' house. Lumpy was supposed to look after him. With Giggles' help, Lumpy put the toddler to bed in Giggles' room. The toddler fell asleep, and Lumpy felt safe in leaving Cub alone in Giggles' bed. However, no sooner had Lumpy left than Cub suddenly opened his eyes. The toddler sat on his bed and looked around. Finding he was alone, he crawled to the edge of the bed, and somehow managed to climb down to the floor. He crawled across the floor to satisfy his curious and adventurous mind. He at first fiddled with the Giggles' slippers beside the bed but Cub quickly became bored with it and looked around for something to play with.

He decided that he wanted to go and see what was under the bed. Happily, he explored the place beneath the bed.

He saw a box and immediately climbed over its sides. He laughed as he saw what appear to be toys, but were actually the sticks of dynamites that Giggles confiscated from Lumpy. He tried to play with it, but it slipped and fell to the floor. Climbing down the box, he tried to grab it, but he inadvertently pushed it, causing it to roll away from him. He clapped his hands. That is just like the toy firetrucks he played with. He decided that his new game was to roll the dynamite in the floor like a toy car.

He was so happy with his new toy that he didn't notice, or if he did, did not care, that he rolled the dynamite outside Giggles' bedroom. He just played and laughed at his new toy. His sounds of laughter and playfulness were loud, yet could not be heard above the din of conversation, shouting, boasting, and laughing that is going on among the adults.

He stopped just besides the table when he saw another large box just like the one he saw under the bed. Another box of toys, he happily thought. Holding the stick of dynamite in his mouth, he climbed on the box of red candles. He clapped his hands and laughed. Letting go of the original "toy", he picked up a red candle.

* * *

Lumpy was on the couch on the living room when he caught a glimpse of Cub at the candle box. He gasped silently. "Excuse me," he said as he rushed to the table to get Cub from the box of candles. "Bad Cub!" Lumpy scolded, though not loud enough to be heard by the others. "Bad Cub!"

"Looks like Lumpy couldn't wait to stuff himself silly!" Sniffles shouted as he saw Lumpy ran towards the dinner table.

"Cub! I thought you put him to bed!" Pop—seeing Cub being picked up by Lumpy—shouted as he ran towards the blue moose and his son.

"Looks like Cub doesn't like to left out of the adults' party," Giggles giggled, as Pop grabbed his son from Lumpy.

"I knew I shouldn't have left my son with such an idiot like—" Pop bitterly said before being cut off by Cuddles, who tried to pour oil on troubled waters.

"Let's eat! I'm hungry," Cuddles shouted, coming between them, pointedly ignoring the two, and staring at the food.

It did the trick for Lumpy, whose attention immediately focused upon the delicious cake that Giggled prepared. "Yes! Food! Hungry! Me!"

"Wait!" Giggles shouted, joining them. "Before we eat, we have to light the candle!"

Giggles decided that it was time to begin the real ceremony before things got out of hand with the alcohol. "Ladies and Gentlemen, friends, and colleagues, thank you for attending our party. This party is to thank all those who intentionally helped us, and saved our lives during the kidnap-hostage situation last week."

"Yes, but they died several times since, so wouldn't it be beside the point?" Handy whispered to Flippy. "You even killed the two girls two days ago during one of your flip outs!"

"I know," Flippy replied. "But let's humor them."

"Thank you for saving us, for literally giving their lives! Even though we know this is not true, still, figuratively, I'd say that if it weren't for you, we would not be here today!" Giggles said, not noticing the hushed whisperings among her audience.

"Yeah!" Handy shouted. "Instead, us guys aren't here today for dying while saving you that day!"

The room burst into laughter at Handy's remark.

"Seriously!" Petunia motioned, "Dying is common, and expected, but being kidnapped and taken hostage is not. If you die, you return the next day good as new. However, if you were kidnapped, if you weren't rescued or released or killed, you remained kidnapped the next day."

"And now, for the list of honors!" Giggles announced.

"Finally," Sniffles said.

"First of all, we'd like to thank Handy," Petunia said. "For recognizing the peril that we were in the moment he saw Lifty and I walking in the park."

"Nah, I knew you two really were on a date!" Handy interrupted, prompting laughs among the others.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted," Petunia said, glaring at the handless carpenter, "He followed us to make sure the rest of you always knew where we were. Please give a round of applause to Handy!"

The others clapped their hands.

"Next!" the skunk continued, "I'd like to thank Pop, for saving my life!"

"Yeah, from Lumpy!" Handy snickered.

"Hey!" Lumpy retorted.

"Will you please shut up, Handy!" Petunia growled. "He pulled me out of harm's way when Lumpy's car—"

"That's my car!" Sniffles corrected.

"Sniffles' car—thank you for the correction, Sniffles—and ensured I lived till the end of the day," Petunia finished. "He then accompanied Lumpy in the pursuit of Lifty in order to ensure that he did not call Shifty."

"It was nothing," Pop replied, accepting the resulting applause from the others.

"The next one goes to Flaky," Giggles declared. "For saving me from being hanged, and held me, even when she's not strong enough, until help arrived."

"And let's not forget," Petunia added. "She was the one who brought Flippy and Cuddles in!"

Flaky just blushed as the others applauded.

"I'd like to thank Cuddles for—" Petunia began, but was at a loss for words. "Giggles, what exactly did Cuddles do again? Aside from dying, that is."

"Hey I got hit in the head by Shifty!" Cuddles protested.

"Cuddles showed us how much he cared for me!" Giggles answered, "and was the one who first attacked Shifty!"

The others applauded, while some snickered while clapping.

"The next one is Flippy!" Petunia announced.

"He was the sweet one who told Flaky and Cuddles to go to my house instead of following Petunia!" Giggles added. "He—what's the right word?—punished Shifty, and saved his sweetheart Flaky."

"Too bad he got himself killed in the process," Sniffles shouted, but applauded with the others nonetheless.

Flippy acknowledged the applause while looking at a blushing Flaky.

"Lumpy is next!" Giggles introduced. "Even though he accidentally killed Cuddles—"

"It was Pop's fault!" Lumpy protested. "If he hadn't thrown that lighted match—"

"What do you mean it's my fault?!" Pop answered. "If you had checked your car better before you went driving off, then maybe you'd know that your break is not working!"

"Will you two please stop it?!" Giggles shouted. There was silence. "Thank you. Now, Lumpy, who during that day was sheriff, lent his helping hand to Petunia and I. He essentially saved Petunia from the clutches of that raccoon. He gave chase to Lifty to ensure that he won't call his brother."

Lumpy bowed as everyone, including Pop, applauded him.

"Last but not least," Giggles said, "we'd like to thank Sniffles."

Petunia took the floor. "Thank you Giggles. Sniffles is the one who first gave me hope when all hope seems lost. He was the one who first learned of our problem, the one who made sure Lifty and Shifty would get not a single cent of my money, the one who accompanied me to my home after being rescued, and the one who stayed to keep me company afterwards. Without him, I don't how that day would have ended! Thank you. You're so kind, so brave, so intelligent, for doing what is needed under pressure! His words were a breath of fresh air, his actions the actions of a true hero."

The anteater was taken aback by the extravagance of the praises heaped upon him, but though he was a bit embarrassed, he in his mind thought that he fully deserved all of it, and proudly soaked it all up.

The others smiled a knowing at Sniffles and Petunia. "Looks like someone has a new girlfriend," Handy teased.

Sniffles was oblivious to his friends' insinuations, and thought they were referring to someone else. "Yes," he replied, "but Flaky and Flippy have been together for a long time. It's about time they make it official."

The others laughed at Sniffles, but Sniffles interpreted the laugh as being directed at Flippy and Flaky, so he laughed along. To his friends, it was obvious by Petunia's actions during the week after the incident that she likes Sniffles more than as a friend, and she repeatedly gave hints to the anteater during the week. Sniffles, however, was too absorbed with the solution to the antidote to Kryptonut, or with his other experiments, that he was oblivious to Petunia's attentions, and instead, interpreted her hints at its face value, to the frustration of the blue skunk. Even when hanging out with his friends, his mind always returns to his projects, and he never paid more attention to Petunia than he usually did.

"As I was saying," Petunia loudly said, "the handsome intelligent anteater acted in a cool, professional manner. You have my eternal gratitude."

Sniffles bowed as the others applauded him.

"Now that that was taken care of," Giggles announced, taking the floor, "we'll proceed to this night's main event. Petunia and I will put a red candle in the middle of the cake, and all of you will light it using this giant torch. Petunia and I will then blow it as a sign of our gratitude."

"Just like a birthday cake," Flippy observed.

"Yes, just like a birthday cake," Petunia replied as she gave the guys a long torch. "Now, all of you grab hold of this torch, one hand each."

"Yes," Giggles continued as she took Cub from Pop. "Pop should go in front on the left, followed by Sniffles and Lumpy. On the right, Cuddles should be in front, followed by Flaky, and then by Handy. Flippy should hold the end of the torch."

Unfortunately, Handy could not hold the torch at his designated spot because he has no hands. He put on his frustrated look and complained. "How am I supposed to hold the torch?"

"Oh, sorry," Giggles answered. "You could switch places with Flippy and bite the end."

Flippy and Handy did as suggested. All the boys were now in place. Giggles turned off the light, after which Petunia, who was standing besides the box of red candles, grabbed one candle in the dark. In her excitement, she did not notice that the 'candle' felt different. She placed it in the middle of the cake—she had practiced putting a candle in the middle of the cake in the dark during the week of preparation. She then lit her lighter, and waited for Giggles to come near her. Both girls then clasped the lighter, and together, lighted the torch.

The boys looked at the torch in admiration, before jointly lighting the 'candle.'

They were at first confused as they gathered around the cake when the 'candle' did not illuminate the room as much as it should.

"I've heard of bulbs that are a bit dim but a candle?" Lumpy remarked. "It's the perfect candle for the Mole."

"That's no candle!!" Flippy gasped. "That's dynamite!"

Before anyone could react or move away from the table, it exploded. Everyone was around the table, and everyone was killed that night. All killed accidentally by everyone. Thus, Petunia had her first kill, and Cub, his second.

**The End**

**Note**: That's it. It's finished.

To **deadliving**, I agree. In fact, without the dying in the most horrific way, it wouldn't be HTF at all.

To **Kitten630**—I think I got it right this time—at least most of the other characters died along with Lifty and Shifty, right? And the racoons didn't die in this chapter!!

Evil Flippy is your pet bear? Well, hope he's not hungry!!

To **Today4U-Tomorrow4Me****, **thank you for the kind words. I try to keep the characterizations as close to the show as possible, though I sometimes added something for dramatic effect.

To **Easymac,** a key is nothing. At least it's made of metal. In _Easy for you to Sleigh_, he carved Shifty with a—Christmas cookie!!! Yes, I think he could if chose to, kill people with cards.

To **Sinclair16, **here is the bonus chapter! Unfortunately, it was already done when I received your review. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions and your review. I really appreciate it.


End file.
